The A to Z of Femslash Crack
by centreoftheselights
Summary: A challenge to complete 26 ficlets based on the letters of the alphabet and the 26 crackiest F/F Homestuck pairings.
1. Avast! VriskaxJane

"I know you've glommed the broad's scatter," you inform the suspect grimly. "I've got you doped as an honest bird. Give me the wire and the buttons won't hear a word, savvy?"

He isn't speaking yet, but you know this egg is on the verge of cracking. When he does, it's another case solved, and another century in the bank.

Just a typical day's work for Jane Crocker, the most hardboiled detective this side of Prospit's moon.

"Avast!" A fine piece of ankle storms into the room, waving a cutlass at your witness. "Speak, you scurvy dog, or it's to Davy Jones' locker with you!"

Your partner waves her sword a little too enthusiastically, and slices off your informant's head. It smashes on the ground.

You sigh.

This is an occupational hazard of constructing interrogatees from your partner's magic eight balls.

"Take that!" she crows.

"Vriska, he was about to peach on the skirt," you tell her. "You didn't need to scare him, let alone give him the full Blackbeard."

"Well, I'm boooooooored!" she complains, perching herself on your lap. "I thought I was going to get to be bad cop!"

You consider your options. Your only lead just got planted and there's nothing to do on this case but bump gums.

More importantly, you're dizzy with the dish in your lap, and your plans for this afternoon are dust.

"You _do_ make a good bad cop," you say, as you pull her towards you for a kiss. "You'll just have to find some other number to grill."

She smirks, and winks at you. "Aye."


	2. Barge NepetaxVriska

Vriska storms down the corridor, slamming doors shut as she goes.

"Hey!"

Vriska doesn't bother looking back to see who she's just bumped into. She is walking here, and whoever it was should have known better than to get in her way.

Or so she thinks, until a flying pounce pins her to the wall.

Nepeta does not look happy.

Vriska tries to shove her off and keep walking but no, there are long, vicious claws pressed against her chest and everything about the greenblood's stance implies that moving is a very bad idea.

"What?" Vriska drawls.

"You can't just barge into people like that Vriska!" Nepeta's voice is low and serious, and something about it sends a shiver down Vriska's spine.

"Or what?" she laughs it off. "You'll tell your moirail?"

"Equius doesn't need to waste his time on you any more," Nepeta hisses. "You aren't worth his time. Everyone knows it! You act like you're so much braver than everyone, but really you're just a big scaredy-cat puffing up her fur to look big."

Suddenly, Vriska is released, and a swish of green coat and blue fur is retreating down the corridor. Is that all she wanted to say? Surely Nepeta isn't just going to walk away after that?

"Hey!" Vriska calls, and Nepeta is back again faster than she would have thought possible, pinning her wrists to the wall tight enough to draw blood, but Vriska doesn't care about that when Nepeta's lips are on hers, kissing her so fiercely she barely remembers to breathe.

For once in her life, Vriska doesn't know what to say.

Instead, she kisses back.


	3. Catfish FeferixNepeta

"Come on in! It's reely nice!"

Nepeta shakes her head, looking nervous on the beach in her blue swimsuit.

"AC is perfectly fine on the sand, away from the water."

"AC purr-omised she'd go swimming today, and she'd betta get a move on!"

Feferi laughs as she emerges out of the surf. Even soaking wet, she looks amazing, poised and relaxed while the sea snarls around her.

Her landdweller companion isn't so happy. Even well away from the waves, Nepeta feels like her fur is standing on end – except it isn't, because she had to leave it up on the rocks where it wouldn't get wet.

"Come on!" Feferi drags Nepeta by the hand, and she has no choice but to follow. When the water first splashes against her legs, cold and unexpected, Nepeta shrieks, but Feferi won't let her run away. She dances on the spot, but there is no way for her to stay dry, and soon her nerves have turned into laughter.

When Nepeta stops trying to pull back, Feferi releases her hand, dancing out of reach.

"Beach ya can't catch me!" she calls.

"Purrlease!" Nepeta replies. This might be Feferi's home turf, but she's still the master huntress, and she can't ignore a challenge like that.

Feferi ducks behind a rock, but as Nepeta approaches a splash of water in her face sends her away hissing. Well, she won't be deterred so easily! She stalks her prey along the shore, dodging slimy patches of seaweed and clambering over rockpools, until she finally manages to pounce and pin Feferi to the sand.

"Whale, look at you!" Feferi teases. "I'll make a catfish of you yet!"

"AC surveys her captured prey." Nepeta grins. "AC knows just what to do with tricky teasing fish-girl matesprits!"

Feferi's lips taste of brine and adventure.


	4. Daiquiris TerezixRoxy

A long, pointed tongue scrapes the inside of the cocktail glass, seeking out any lingering trickle of fluid. Finding none, the glass is finally lowered.

"More!" Terezi demands. "Bring me more of this red deliciousness!"

Roxy takes her glass and heads back to the drinks cabinet.

"It's called a strawberry daiquiri!" she tells Terezi as she gathers the ingredients... wait. That bottle shouldn't be empty! "Oh noez!"

"No!" Terezi turns her head, but of course she can't see what's wrong. "No is bad! More daiquiris!"

"Can't." Suddenly, Roxy giggles. "The rum's gone!"

That can't be right, can it? She only thought to show Terezi her mad cocktail skills after they got home from the party and now it's... whoops! Later than Roxy thought.

Time for bed.

"C'mon." She tries to pull Terezi to her feet, but the girl won't move from where she is, half-slumped on, half-clinging to the table.

"I demand more daiquiris!" she shouts, the sound muffled by her faceplant into the wood.

Roxy doesn't bother reasoning with her. She scoops Terezi up, bridal style, and the troll transfers her hold, nuzzling into Roxy's neck as she staggers into the hall.

At the foot of the stairs, Roxy is surprised by something in her mouth. She looks down to see Terezi has swiped the bowl of strawberries from the kitchen table and popped one in her mouth. She bites down awkwardly, half of the fruit falling out of her mouth onto the floor somewhere. A long trickle of juice runs down her chin, which Terezi licks off eagerly.

"I approve of the strawberries..." Terezi mutters sleepily as Roxy takes the bowl from her and sets it on the bedside table.

"Shh!" Roxy chides. "Only sleeping now..."

They are too tired to undress, barely retaining the co-ordination to collapse and pull the covers over themselves. Roxy knows they'll regret this in the morning – but Terezi will probably declare the daiquiris worth it, and right now that's enough.

"Roxy..." Terezi says in the darkness.

"Hmm?"

"I'm so flushed for you." She laughs. "Flushed as a strawberry daiquiri."

In the darkness, Roxy smiles, and cuddles up to her girlfriend.

"Love you too, babe."


	5. Evolution AradiaxNepeta

Aradia wanders aimlessly through the trees. She has nowhere to go. She has nothing to do. There is no reason for her to hurry. It's a novel feeling, and one she relishes.

She hears a rustle beside her, and a feline shape emerges from the undergrowth. Initially, she assumes it is the familiar figure of Pounce de Leon – this bubble houses Nepeta and Equius, and she knows it well from her regular visits with her kismesis and his moirail.

A second glance proves her wrong. This is something new, a large blue cat she has never encountered before. Aradia does not see how this is possible.

She understands even less when the cat transforms before her eyes into a girl.

"Hey Aradia!" Nepeta greets her with a smile. "If you're looking for Equius, he's at his hive."

"I was just taking a walk..." Aradia says automatically, gazing at Nepeta with unmasked interest. "How did you do that?"

"Oh, I was just playing around!" she shrugs. "I've been working out what I can do."

Aradia frowns. "But what happens if you break the rules?"

"There aren't any rules here!" Nepeta laughs. "We can be whatever we want to be. Want to stay and play with me for a while?"

Aradia smiles wistfully. "I should probably check on some more bubbles."

"I didn't ask what you _should_ do!" Nepeta frowns. "You can take a break if you want to, Aradia."

She can, for the first time in any of her lives. There are no timelines depending on her. She's free.

"So, what do you _want_ to do?" Nepeta asks. "Think of it, then do it!"

What _does_ she want? Aradia wants to try something new.

She kisses Nepeta on the cheek, shy and flushed as ruby as her clothes. Nepeta looks down, turning slowly emerald.

"Sorry!" Aradia squeaks. "I –"

Nepeta looks up at her. She's smiling.

"So I guess you do want to stay and play," she says softly. She takes Aradia's hand in hers.

"Good! I have a great idea!" Nepeta tugs her towards the forest. "Come on! You'll love it!"

In the furthest ring, Aradia can become anything.

Perhaps she can even try being happy.


	6. Frozen TerezixKanaya

"Kanaya!" Terezi does not turn around as she enters the room. "And how is Miss Sage Icicle?"

"I am fine," Kanaya assures her, looking around. She had expected Dave or Karkat to precede her arrival. "Where are the others?"

"Not here!" Terezi laughs.

"I see." Kanaya is a little concerned. It seems likely they have merely been distracted by their new rivalry, but she cannot help but feel uneasy. The meteor is not safe; she has not forgotten that Gamzee is still at large.

And now she is alone with Terezi.

"Really? What is it you see?" Terezi turns to face her, and Kanaya realises she has stopped halfway across the room. In spite of the awkwardness of this position, she does not move towards Terezi.

"They seemed somewhat preoccupied when I last saw them," Kanaya explains. "They had been arguing."

"Really?" Terezi laughs again, high and screeching. "I wonder what about."

Kanaya is suddenly convinced that Terezi knows precisely what the boys have been fighting over.

She was never fond of Terezi's games. Now she sees Terezi is still playing, and the games may be more dangerous than Kanaya had ever imagined.

"Did you want to auspisticise?" Terezi asks, walking slowly towards her. "You never were comfortable with black-rom, were you Kanaya?"

Kanaya does not answer as Terezi draws closer – too close, now, for comfort. Kanaya bites her lip, fighting the urge to sink her teeth into the girl's neck and taste the sticky turquoise underneath.

A perfectly normal rainbow drinker instinct, she is certain.

That she has never felt this way around Karkat is a fact she chooses to ignore.

"Did it make you uncomfortable?" Terezi repeats, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"I prefer seeing my friends at peace," Kanaya admits. "I would prefer if you did not interfere with that."

"What if I want to interfere?" Terezi asks, her grin only growing broader. Kanaya can see victory in the blankness of those lenses. Terezi expects her to back down.

Instead, Kanaya steps forwards, pushing into Terezi's space until they are almost touching.

"Then I shall stop you," she promises.

"Oh, Miss Icicle. I'm _counting_ on it."


	7. Garden JadexJane

There is something beautiful about Jade Harley which cannot be hidden. Even with dirt smudged across her forehead and twigs tangled in her hair, she seems to glow more brightly than the summer's sun which beats down upon her as she kneels in the long grass.

"Jane..." she calls, teasingly. "You're staring!"

Jane laughs it off, and resumes her careful walk across the lawn. "I thought you might like a glass of lemonade."

Jade leaps to her feet like a Jack-in-the-box and downs half the glass in one long gulp.

"Thanks!" She beams at Jane. "Weeding is thirsty work!"

"Any thoughts about what you want to plant yet?"

"Plenty!" Jade laughs. "But most of them will have to wait until spring. Actually... I was wondering if you had any ideas?"

Jane looks around at the neglected flowerbeds. She has no doubt that soon, under Jade's magic touch, they will be filled with a riot of colour.

"I was wondering about... maybe an apple tree?" she suggests, shyly. "I thought it might be nice to bake some home-grown apple pie."

"We could have a tire swing!" Jade enthuses. "That's brilliant!"

Jane's happiness is interrupted by a distant beeping from inside the house.

"Goddarn it!" she says. "I left the cookies in the oven!"

She turns, about to run back across the long lawn in the vain hope of retrieving the cookies while they are still edible, but the sound of Jade's laughter makes her pause.

"You mean these cookies?"

She turns back, and the tray is hovering slightly over Jade's hands, the cookies still steaming from the oven.

"You didn't have to –"

Jade giggles. "Well, I couldn't let them get _burned_, could I?"

"... I love you."

Jane couldn't help but say it. She promised herself she would never let shyness get in the way of those words again.

Jade stares at her silently, mouth open. There is no sound in the garden but the rustling of leaves in the summer breeze.

Then Jade cracks up. "I know, silly! And I love you too, if you're not tired of hearing me say it by now."

Jane returns her smile. Perhaps, one day, she will grow tired of it.

But, after fifty years together, she doubts it.


	8. Haberdashery JanexAradia

Just a note to let you guys know that anyone who wants to request word/pairing combinations which I haven't covered yet can drop me a line in comments.

Edit: One of these days, I will remember what information I've already posted here and what I haven't.

I have already chosen 26 crack pairings to write about, which are the 26 F/F Alpha/Beta/Troll pairings tagged 5 times or less on AO3. This list is pretty arbitrary, but I'm sticking to it. If you have a favourite pairing you think will be on the list but not yet covered (Jane or Roxy/Anyone but each other is guaranteed, for instance), I am happy for you to request a word to go with it beginning with a letter not yet covered. Otherwise, I'm picking pairings with a random number generator and choosing what words and situations I think fit best.

Kanaya/Vriska and Jane/Roxy are both in the top five most popular F/F pairings - not exactly crack, so they won't be appearing (in this collection). Nepeta/Terezi kind of is, but just avoids the criteria I'm using, so I'm afraid it isn't getting a story here either.

* * *

><p>A sudden noise behind her makes Jane start. She turns, stirring solution in hand, ready to fight off more of these dratted imps which have been pestering her ever since she arrived in this strange place.<p>

There is no imp behind her. Instead, a wall of stone is lowering over the mouth of a nearby cave. As she watches, a figure ducks through the gap, barely making it through before the stone slams against the ground.

The stranger sighs.

As the mystery girl gets to her feet, Jane finds herself staring. She looks nothing like anyone Jane has ever seen, in real life or the movies. Her skin is gray, enormous curved horns grow from her head, and the blood trickling from a scratch on her arm is a deep, unnatural maroon, as are her – wait are those _wings_?

"Sorry," she says to Jane. "It just isn't the same without the hat."

"Excuse me?" Jane asks, utterly bemused.

"You must be Jane," the girl says. "I'm Aradia. I hope you don't mind me exploring your planet a little?"

"Not at all," Jane's mouth says reflexively. Her brain has decided to take a brief vacation from everything which keeps happening, but that is no reason to neglect her manners.

"Oh, good!" Aradia smiles. "I never got much of a chance to excavate the ruins on LOQAM. I was always too busy worrying about the timelines! But now the humans are in charge! Well, Dave and Rose really, we're still waiting on the other two..."

Aradia trails off, looking a little concerned at Jane's silence. Jane nods vaguely, in what she hopes is an encouraging fashion, but probably looks more like confused panic.

"I hope you don't mind me sealing this one up." Aradia sounds apologetic. "Only I don't think you'll have time to explore much more. As soon as someone else Enters, you'll have plenty to do. A Maid's work is never done!"

She laughs. The sound is very human, and it wakes Jane from her shock enough to form a question.

"Excuse me," she asks politely. "But what happened to your hat?"

"Oh, I lost that when I died." Aradia shrugs. "I didn't mind the dying so much, but I do miss having a real archaeologist's hat. It just doesn't feel like exploring without one!"

"Well..." Jane is hardly sure what she's saying by this point, but after the day she's been having, perhaps it's best just to go with it. "You could come exploring with me. I have a hat I could lend you."

She retrieves it from her sylladex. Aradia's smile looks like it might split her face.

"I mean –" Jane stutters. "If we aren't going to be too busy with what you said before."

"Don't worry." Aradia dons the hat with a wink. "We have plenty of time."


	9. Icing NepetaxJane

Anyone who left requests last chapter, please read the updated Author's Note on Chapter 8.

* * *

><p>There are a lot of words Jane could use to describe how she feels when lowering a tray of cupcakes into the oven to bake. Accomplished. Expectant. Proud.<p>

Today, she has a new word: frazzled. She sets the timer, turns back to her companion, and tries not to wince. There's butter smeared on the floor, egg yolk dripping from the ceiling, and flour absolutely _everywhere_.

"Meow what do we do?"

Through it all, Nepeta has remained inexplicably clean. There isn't a spot of flour or a smidge of egg on that horribly unhygienic coat she refused to remove (if the cupcakes aren't filled with blue fur, Jane will be astounded) The kitchen looks like a hurricane has hit it, and Nepeta was at the eye of the storm.

Normally at this point, Jane would wash up and wipe down before the cupcakes are done baking. If she tries the same today, the cakes will be burned to a cinder.

Of course, the work would go faster with two people – but when one of them refuses to let so much as a bottle of vanilla go unpounced upon, Jane thinks it's best to work alone.

"Why don't you wait in the next room until they're done?" she suggests.

"Shouldn't I -?"

"No." Jane says, perhaps a little too firmly. "I can tidy things up in here by myself."

As Jane begins to clean up the mess, she tries her best not to think too uncharitably of Nepeta. Baking isn't for everyone. It was her first time. She's naturally exuberant.

My goodness, how did she get cocoa powder _there_?

Jane has barely started when the timer indicates that the cakes are done.

"I'll get them!" Nepeta charges into the room, and Jane has to yelp "Oven gloves!" to stop her burning herself.

"Don't worry!" Nepeta laughs. "I have the purrfect idea!"

She takes the cupcakes through with her to the next room, then returns to rummage in a cupboard. Jane decides she is too exhausted to worry about this.

It is over an hour before the kitchen is clean again, and longer still before Jane herself has showered and finally washed the sugary mess from her hair. She returns downstairs warily, half-expecting to find another mess.

The room is remarkably clean, with the exception of several brightly coloured bowls and – paintbrushes?

Twenty cupcakes are arrayed across the table in a rainbow of colours. Jane picks up a blue one, and finds a remarkable likeness of Equius, surrounded by white diamonds.

Nepeta looks up with a broad smile. "Do you like them?"

Jane searches out her own: a perfect miniature portrait, backed in cyan, and accented with a red heart.

"They're beautiful," she replies. "Do you want to try making some more?"


	10. Judgement VriskaxRoxy

Two girls sit on a bench, giggling uproariously. At some point in the recent past, there was a joke, but since neither of them can recall it now, it is no longer relevant.

If questioned, Roxy Lalonde would insist that she was perfectly sober – okay, maybe a little tipsy, but she was on a new planet right? It was a time to celebrate.

A more objective witness would be likely to label her current state 'falling-down drunk.' Unfortunately, the trolls passing by are anything but objective, and they have their own labels.

"Disgraceful," one mutters as he walks past. Roxy does not hear him, but his expression leaves no doubt as to the sentiment.

She stops laughing.

"Are we being disgraceful?" she asks her companion.

"Ugh," Vriska replies, coherently.

"People is always judgin me..." Roxy sighs. "Just coz I know how to have fun."

Vriska hums distractedly.

"I mean... we're eighteen!" Roxy protests. "S'not even illegal. Now."

"I'm not," Vriska tells her. "I'm nine."

"Oh." Roxy laughs. "I shouldn't let you have booze! I must be disgraceful."

"Stupid word," Vriska grumbles. "People are always judging. Judgey judgey judge. But if you do what they say, someone else is mad! I mean, yeah, I killed a few people, but I'm not a _monster_, you know?"

"Yeah... What?"

"It's not like they're any better than me..." Vriska slumps. "I'm better than aaaaaaaall of the trolls."

"All of 'em," Roxy echoes.

"I say t'hell with 'em." Vriska declares. "They can judge all they like. I'm gonna be whatever the fuck I feel like."

Roxy leans over and kisses her sloppily. As she pulls away, her lipstick smears across Vriska's mouth, leaving a streak of magenta through her cerulean blush. A passing highblood gasps and shakes her head in dismay.

"Hear hear," Roxy mutters into her girlfriend's neck. "Hear fuckin hear."


	11. Kismet AradiaxRoxy

Roxy opens her eyes.

"Wtf...?" she asks no-one in particular. She doesn't recognise her surroundings at all.

"Oh!" A voice behind her says. "Hello!"

She turns around. There's a troll behind her – red-blooded, anything that side of green is probably safe, but Roxy's wary of the weird mind shit which some of the lowbloods can pull and – damn, make that very dangerous, 'cause someone's gone and taken her strife specibus.

Come to think of it, Roxy doesn't remember putting on these sweet purple pyjamas – and she's never seen a troll with those sweet-ass butterfly wings before.

"...Wtf?" she repeats.

The troll girl smiles – okay, wow, that's a first – and holds out a hand.

"I'm Aradia!" she introduces herself. "Welcome to the dream bubbles!"

Roxy blinks a couple of times, and wonders if she's ever actually spoken to a troll before.

"Wha's a dream b'ble?" she slurs.

Aradia looks at her sternly. "You aren't actually drunk, you know."

"Aren't I?" Roxy asks, perhaps a little sharply.

"I've been hearing about you for days, and there's no alcohol here," Aradia explains. "You could make your dreamself drunk psychosomatically, but that's almost impossible if you've been told it's the only way!"

She beams. Roxy blinks again, awards the troll girl a couple of points on the conversation leader board. She'll have to find a way top that.

"So what is a dream bubble?" she repeats.

"It's hard to explain..." Aradia says. "It's a kind of afterlife!"

"I'm dead?" Roxy blurts out.

"No!" Aradia reassures her. "We're both alive – technically, you're asleep."

Roxy understands a bit better now. Dirk warned her about the dreamselves.

"So if this is the afterlife..." she asks. "Do I have to rescue my true love?"

"I'm sorry?" Aradia looks confused. Okay, Roxy corrects herself, Greek mythology gags don't work on people who aren't Strider.

"I mean, what are the chances I'd run into you here?" she tries again. "It must be... what's the word?"

"Fate?" Aradia rolls her eyes.

"Nah, other one... starts with K."

Aradia falls for it. "Kismet?"

"'kay."

She leans forward quickly and gives Aradia a peck on the cheek. She blushes.

"I meant..." Aradia stutters a little.

"I know." Roxy winks at her.

It's time to make dreams come true.


	12. Life FeferixJane

Jane is in her bedroom, reading the announcement on the CrockerCorp website.

"The new branding will be launched on 2x3prong day..." She frowns. "I wonder what that means."

"It's one of these, silly!"

Jane turns around. There's a strange gray-skinned girl with white eyes and gills in the middle of her bedroom, holding up a double-ended trident.

She wasn't here the last time.

"Ah," Jane says. "I do appear to be dreaming."

"Wow!" the girl says. "You shore do like this Crocker stuff!"

"I'm going to inherit it one day," Jane explains.

"Reely?" The girl laughs. "I was a princess once!"

"You were?" Jane asks, a little confused.

"Yes!" the girl shouts. "It's a sea-rious responsibility, isn't it? I spent so much time thinking about all the fins I wanted to change!"

"Yeah..." Jane says, but she isn't sure she follows. It's not that she hasn't made plans for the future, but there's never been any really big changes she wanted to make. Why meddle with a business model which works so well?

But then, after what happened earlier, she isn't sure it's working at all.

"You know the silliest thing?" the girl continues. "I never did any of it! Someone krilled me before I had the chance."

"Oh – I'm sorry –"

"It wasn't your fault!" the girl tells her. She sits on Jane's bed, and gestures for Jane to come and sit next to her. She does so, feeling somewhat nervous so close to a total stranger.

"Listen!" the girl commands. "There are three things I want you to remember. Firstly: you have to listen to your fronds. A princess needs advisors she can trust. Pick good ones!"

"I think I have," Jane says. She can't imagine better friends than she already has.

"Good!" The girl smiles encouragingly. "Secondly: LIVE! Let yourshell have fun! Just because one day you might be in charge, doesn't mean you can't make a difference in the meantime."

"Oh." Jane wonders if she's ever thought of it like that before. Her friends have been warning her about the Batterwitch for a long time, but did she ever think of looking into it herself? "What's the third thing?"

"Never be afraid to... cuttle!" The girl wraps her arms around Jane, knocking her backwards, and turning them both into a giggling heap. Soon, they are stretched out on the floor together, panting.

"Oh – I – thank you!" Jane says. "Whoever you are – thanks a lot!"

She vanishes, and the girl is left alone. Her smile fades as she stares at the empty space.

"Feferi," she says softly. "My name's Feferi."


	13. Meenah RoxyxFeferi

Feferi hears a noise behind her. Although in her mind she knows she's safe – after all, she's already dead! What more could happen? – she can't help turning around anxiously and calling out: "Who's there?"

A figure springs out of nowhere and nearly knocks her to the ground, but Feferi's reflexes kick in and she dodges out of the way, pointing her culling fork at the attacker.

The girl is already back on her feet, and Feferi looks her over. She's human – blonde and in Derse pyjamas. That must mean...

"Rose?" she asks.

The girl scowls. "Roxy. 'Sif you don't know."

Feferi doesn't know what she's done to deserve the level of animosity this girl is showing her. "I do?"

"Purple blood, gills and a double ended trident?" Roxy looks her up and down. "I've been all kindsa warned about you. Well, seadweller, I'm busy 'nough in the waking world. So you'd better GTFO!"

Feferi isn't sure what she's saying, and is even less sure what she means, but she knows one thing: no-one takes that tone with her.

"Water you going to do about it if I don't?" she asks.

Roxy smiles and winks. "Wouldn't you like t'know?"

She launches herself at Feferi again, and this time around there's no chance to abscond. Roxy is fast with her fists, and when she slips under Feferi's guard, she knows she can't beat her by force.

Even so, she can't say she was exactly planning on kissing her.

The distraction works, and Roxy stops fighting and pulls her closer, nails digging in painfully close to Feferi's gills. In return, Feferi moves her arm to scrape her culling fork across the girl's leg, and Roxy gasps.

Feferi's never so much as hate-kissed someone before, but now she's –

"Meenah," Roxy whispers against Feferi's lips.

"My name's Feferi," she growls, and the girl pulls away.

"Really?" She looks disappointed.

"Yes reely! Who's Meenah?"

But Roxy has got to her feet, and now she's walking away.

"Come back here!"

"Some other time, babe." Roxy smirks back at Feferi over her shoulder. "Right now, I've got bigger fish to fry."


	14. Nothing KanayaxRoxy

In the days of final approach upon the new session, the Seer of Light is drawn deeper and deeper into her plans, surrounding herself with books and charts, many of them drawn in her own hand.

The same cannot be said of the Sylph of Space. Instead, Kanaya finds herself increasingly distracted by Trollian – not Dave and Karkat's unending argumentative memos, but the tenuous link to the new world they are soon to join. They cannot yet communicate with the session's unwitting players, but much can be learned of a world through a viewport through time.

Increasingly, Kanaya is drawn to one girl: blonde-haired and sharp-witted, in so many ways the echo of the Seer who she once watched just as devoutly. Yet this girl is profoundly different to Rose: there is an openness, a warmth, an _acceptance_ within her which the Hero of Light has never permitted herself.

But this girl will not be put on a pedestal – each time Kanaya tries, she leaps off again with a gymnast's grace, landing safely back on the ground. Kanaya cannot tear her eyes away from this dance; each leap and every stumble enthrals her.

She finds herself wondering about the girl's scent, the touch of her skin, the cadence of her voice. She wonders how the girl will react upon their first encounter. She hopes that encounter will be soon.

Kanaya knows she has a bad habit of pinning her hopes too high. But, for all her watching, she has never once seen Roxy fall without intent.

Footsteps sound behind her, and she closes the programme quickly. She turns to see Rose, squinting slightly in her light.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

Kanaya is glad that the luminescence masks her blush.

"Nothing."


	15. Objection TerezixJane

Jane likes to think of herself as a polite person. She has been raised to be gracious and tolerant of the people around her. Certainly, she has never had a problem with manners before, not even in the face of Roxy's drunken mishaps, Dirk's mysterious insinuations or Jake's infuriating obliviousness.

But then, this has been something of an unusual day. Jane did not expect to find herself and her abode transported to some unknown location directly adjacent to a large crater, and nor did she expect the meteor's four former inhabitants – four that she had met, although they insisted two more were nearby somewhere. There had been a blonde girl who spouted polysyballic explanations, the boy in sunglasses who muttered elaborate tangents, the radiant vampire who issued precise statements, and the grinning alien who did not say a word, but who laughed, high and loud.

"But you have a great deal ahead of you," she had been told. "You need to go. Terezi can explain more on the way."

Terezi, it had transpired, was the alien girl, and although her former silence was most definitely broken, nothing which could be called an explanation had been in any way forthcoming. Instead, she dances ahead of Jane on the path, refusing to give a straight answer on anything.

"Could you at least point out to me where we're going?"

"Objection!" Terezi says with a smile. "The prosecution cannot see our destination! She's blind!"

Jane sighs. She had not forgotten this fact, but, considering the prosecution has had no problem with battling imps or deciding their path with coin flips, she is no longer sure it's at all relevant to anything.

"What do we need to do when we arrive?" Jane tries again.

"Objection!" Jane has quickly come to despise those three syllables. "Miss Skaia Skies already knows that must wait _until_ we arrive!"

Jane cannot stand any more of this. She strides forwards and catches Terezi on the shoulder.

"Tell me what's going on!" she shouts. "This is supposed to be my quest, but the only thing you've told me is what to do!"

The grin stretches by a couple more pointed teeth. "Ob –"

Jane cannot bear to hear that word again, so she shuts Terezi up in the only way she can think of: with a kiss.

It works. Terezi stops talking, and turns a bright teal.

"Any objections?" Jane asks, as politely as she can bear.

Terezi shakes her head, and they continue their journey in silence.


	16. Pity KanayaxFeferi

Swathes of fine satiny fabric fill the room. At the centre of their folds, a young woman attempts to hold a pose, but the tiniest movement on her part sends the fuchsia silks billowing in huge clouds. The seamstress, her skin illuminating the dark fabric, ties off a thread and releases the hem she was adjusting, moving back to inspect her work.

"Can I look yet?" Feferi asks, the strange acoustics of her underwater palace stretching the final vowel. Kanaya shakes her head silently, as mute in the salt water as she is weightless, and gestures a lazy circle: turn, slowly.

Feferi does so, kicking gently against the floor. The motion makes the entire dress swirl and undulate in the current, and Feferi wishes she could see the final result.

When she finishes her turn, Kanaya is smiling, and she motions towards the mirror. Feferi can't help but glub in excitement as she positions herself in front of the looking glass, and Kanaya turns it to face her.

"Wow..." Feferi sighs, momentarily lost for words. That gentle release of bubbles from her gills sends the fabric streaming out in all directions, and it takes her breath away all over again.

She looks like a princess.

"Thank you so much, Kanaya, it's wonderful! I don't know what to say!"

Kanaya glances shyly down at the floor.

"I do believe it is one of my better creations," she says quietly, a stream of air bubbling from her mouth.

"It's the best thing ever!" Feferi insists. "And you worked so hard on it!"

Kanaya swims towards her, wrapping her arms gently around Feferi's waist. She presses her lips to Feferi's neck, and while Feferi knows she is only searching for enough air to breathe, the brush of a fang on the sensitive skin of her gills makes her vascular system race.

It doesn't help that Kanaya does not release her, but instead places her lips carefully close to Feferi's ear.

"I must admit, I had an ulterior motive for designing it."

"Really?" Feferi asks breathlessly, far too distracted to slip in a fish pun.

"This way, at the ball tonight –" Kanaya pauses for air again, sending a shiver up Feferi's spine. "Pity will be the last thing on anyone's mind."

Feferi laughs, and wraps her arms around Kanaya's neck until they are facing each other.

"As if I'd ever look at anyone else," Feferi says, pulling her matesprit in for a real kiss.


	17. Quantum RosexNepeta

Rose stretches across a garden chair, the summer's sun kept from her face by the book she holds. Nepeta runs across the lawn towards her and falls in an exhausted heap next to Rose's feet, giggling.

Rose quietly folds the book in her lap, and pours two glasses from the iced tea beside her on the table. When she recovers her breath, Nepeta takes hers and curls against Rose's leg.

"AC wonders what book is so interesting that Rose would rather read it than enjoy the nice Earth sunshine."

Rose smiles and sips her tea. "It's about quantum theory."

Nepeta pulls a face.

"Actually, I was just reading about Schrodinger's Cat."

That catches Nepeta's attention – Rose could swear her ears prick up. "AC wants to know more about the famous kitty."

"It's a famous thought experiment. Imagine you place a cat inside a completely sealed box."

"AC doesn't think the cat would like that." Nepeta shivers.

"It probably wouldn't," Rose agrees. "Especially since there is some poison in the box."

Nepeta gasps, seeming honestly offended.

"The poison is sealed up safely, but it could be released any time, depending on a random event within the box. If the poison has been released, the cat will be dead – if not, it is still alive. But the scientist can't see into the box, and has no way of knowing which it is."

"AC hopes the kitty is alive."

"Well, that's the strange part," Rose explains. "Quantum science states that until the box is opened, the cat is both alive and dead. Of course, that idea seems patently absurd, but it's very metaphorically resonant."

Nepeta looks confused, and says nothing.

"It suggests that some results cannot be deduced by thought alone," Rose continues. "They can only be discovered by actually performing the experiment."

Suddenly, Nepeta smiles.

"Rose, do you think you could climb all the way to the top of the oak?"

"Well – I don't know," Rose says honestly. "I've never –"

"Then you'll have to try it and see!" Nepeta says, laughing. She leaps to her feet, and pulls Rose out of her chair.

"I suppose I did rather invite this..." Rose sighs.

"Cheer up!" Nepeta grins. "The first one to the top gets a kiss."

"In that case, I intend to claim first prize."

Rose races down the garden with Nepeta hot on her heels, leaving her book abandoned on the grass.


	18. Rescue KanayaxJane

The ogre had taken Jane by surprise, and now it holds her with ease in one giant hand. Try as she might, she can't so much as bother it with either of her dual abstrati. She is its prisoner, and she fears this strife is fated end painfully.

"Do you require assistance?" A voice sounds far beneath her. She is too panicked to respond coherently, but the noise which issues from her mouth sounds not dissimilar to "Dear God, yes!"

She hears the whirling sound of a motor, and suddenly she is falling towards an enormous pile of grist. Jane just has time to squeeze her eyes closed and wish she had thought that through when she feels two arms catch her mid-fall. She opens her eyes again, eager to see her rescuer – eager, in fact, to see any other human.

She is a little disappointed. The being holding her looks somewhat like a girl, but she is glowing brightly and two orange horns protrude from her skull. Jane supposes she is another of the strange creatures that seem to inhabit this place, albeit not one she has encountered so far.

"Please don't say glub," she says automatically, a little dazed.

"I was not intending to," the girl replies, setting her down. "I apologise if I have intruded at all, but you appeared to be –"

"No!" Jane says. "You saved my life. Thank you very much!"

"I am quite sure your sprite would have intervened if your life were threatened."

Jane has no idea what this means. "My sprite?"

"Ah." The girl looks rather uncomfortable. Jane hears the scuffling sound of an approaching imp, and is somewhat glad of the distraction.

"Do you mind if I -?"

"Not at all."

Jane sets about the imps with gusto, eager to show that she is not normally so easily defeated. Soon, there is yet more grist littering the ground, and she quickly gathers her spoils before turning back.

The girl has retrieved a small mirror from somewhere, and is carefully applying jade lipstick to her pursed mouth. Something about her focus is alarmingly intense, and after a moment Jane realises she is staring. Before she can look away, the girl meets her eyes, and hastily stows the mirror.

"I hope you do not object to my non-interference," she says. "But I always found my own strifes rather relaxing."

Jane had been thinking something similar, but she suddenly finds she is not nearly relaxed enough. She catches herself watching the girl's lips again, and forces herself to look away, in the process recalling yet more manners she has forgotten.

"I beg your pardon, I completely forgot to introduce myself." She smiles, and holds out a hand. "My name is Jane Crocker."

"Kanaya Maryam." Kanaya's handshake is firm, and she looks Jane right in the eye, as she asks "So, Miss Crocker – what do you want to do now?"


	19. Sanguine KanayaxAradia

"Kanaya...?"

"Yes, Aradia?" the rainbow drinker replies, blinking sleepily with her head on the arm of the sofa.

"... Do you miss drinking blood?"

Aradia asks the question so simply that Kanaya takes a moment to register it, but when she does she sits upright, meeting Aradia's eyes.

"Why do you ask?" she responds. Aradia doesn't reply, but the curiosity in her wide eyes says enough, and Kanaya knows she has no choice but to answer.

"Not particularly," Kanaya tells her. "I am healthy; I can sustain myself just as easily with more conventional sources of nutrition. I have only consumed blood once, and my memories of that occasion are not especially clear."

"Why don't you?" Aradia prompts. "Didn't you enjoy it?"

Kanaya is mildly offended by the implication. "I drank Terezi's blood only because it was strictly necessary under the circumstances of my injury, and even then I was unaware of my actions. Otherwise, I would never have endangered her life in such a –"

"You saved it, actually." Aradia interjects. "I spoke with a doomed Terezi who –"

"Nevertheless, it was only under very extreme conditions that the injury and subsequent risks of infection could be considered justified." Kanaya feels herself flush. "I would never subject a friend to that if they were unwilling, and I am hardly likely to find a willing..."

Aradia turns maroon as Kanaya trails off, finally understanding. "Ah. You –"

"If you want to." Aradia says quietly.

Kanaya gets to her feet, and Aradia is briefly confused before the girl returns promptly, carrying the first aid box and several folded towels.

Aradia smiles at her, although she still looks a little flustered. "So – my neck..."

"I suspect your wrist will be more comfortable," Kanaya says, unfolding the towels to extract a sharp knife.

"I thought you would bite me?" Aradia asks, sounding nervous.

"Although it is certainly possible, the process would be long and painful," Kanaya explains. "Skin is not designed to break easily. This will be simpler."

She sets Aradia's arm on the towels, and places the blade against her skin. Aradia cannot help but flinch away, although she looks embarrassed at her own reaction.

Kanaya puts the knife down. Aradia protests. "No! I –"

"Why are you doing this?" Kanaya asks her. "I believed you had overcome your fascination with destruction."

"I have!" Aradia says. "But I thought you – If you _want_ to –"

Kanaya smiles at her. "You do not need to do this to make me happy."

"I don't?" Aradia sounds genuinely surprised.

"The thought of injuring you is not one I find pleasant," Kanaya tells her. "Now, if I might make a suggestion – could we proceed with our usual activities?"

Once more, they cuddle up together on the sofa, utterly content with the world.


	20. Trust KanayaxNepeta

Droplets of green blood form a meandering trail across rose-tinted sands. Above, the approaching dawn tints the sky cobalt, and lightening.

"Nepeta?" calls a worried voice.

"Here!" Nepeta calls as loud as she can, but she is weak, and her voice already hoarse from shouting.

Gentle arms lift her, and carry her out of the blazing sun's reach.

Nepeta's mind is hazy from sleeplessness and blood loss, and she feels her eyes drifting shut.

"Please do not sleep," Kanaya's voice tells her. "Equius informed me you had failed to contact him after setting out to visit me. Nepeta, what happened?"

"Cholerbear..." Nepeta mumbles. She fought it off, of course, but not before it got a few hits in.

"Dear goodness," Kanaya says calmly. "I see. Nepeta, please attempt to remain awake. I am afraid this may be painful."

Nepeta groans, and Kanaya is not sure whether she has understood.

"Nepeta," she repeats. "Do you trust me?"

Nepeta blinks her eyes open, for a moment completely lucid. "Of course."

"Thank you." Kanaya readies a needle, sterilising over a flame. "Then believe me when I say this: you are going to be alright."

* * *

><p>Sweeps later, Nepeta leaps out of a wall vent towards her injured friend.<p>

"Kanaya!" The girl in question seems dazed and unfocussed, and there is blood around her mouth.

"What are you...?" she asks.

"Kanaya, things are dangerous out here!" Nepeta chides her. "Equius told me I ought to hide, but I'm following him. Come on!"

"You're right..." Kanaya seems to return to herself. "Some of our friends have become murderous. You should stay here, where it is safe. I will go and discover –"

"No!" Nepeta tells her. "You're hurt! I'm not letting you go anywhere without me."

"Ah," Kanaya smiles. "Perhaps we should both stay here. But..."

Nepeta hugs her, and holds on tight. Somewhere in the distance, an echoing honk sounds.

"Do you trust me?" Nepeta asks her friend. Kanaya nods. "Then stay with me. Please."

In answer, Kanaya leans down and kisses her, gently. Nepeta returns the kiss more fiercely, tasting blood and pain and regret. They hold each other close, and the honking draws closer.


	21. Underhand NepetaxRoxy

"Hey, Nep. Pass me a cookie?"

Nepeta picks up the last cookie on the plate. "You mean... this cookie?"

"Yeah," Roxy smiles.

Nepeta doesn't move, she just keeps grinning. "This cookie right here? The last of the yummy cookies Jane baked for us? That's what you want me to pass?"

Roxy sighs, stands up and walks over to her, holding out her hand to take the cookie. Nepeta yanks it out of the way.

"Please?" Roxy asks, reaching it for again, but Nepeta dances backwards out of reach.

"Are you sure?" she teases.

Roxy sees the game now. She smiles, and walks slowly after her friend, who keeps skipping just out of arm's reach.

"You don't seem sure..." Nepeta taunts with a wicked smile. "If you don't want it, I could eat it for you. I'd be happy to – oh!"

Nepeta tries to leap out of the way of Roxy's sudden attack, but Roxy has manoeuvred her into a corner and she has nowhere to go. Soon, Roxy's hands are on her, tickling until her knees buckle, but when a hand grasps for the cookie she holds on tight.

Thwarted, Roxy instead reaches behind Nepeta's ear, rubbing at that sensitive spot which makes any cat melt. With a breathless shriek, Nepeta rolls her head into the sensation –

And drops the cookie. In a flash, Roxy snatches it up, and retreats across the room.

"Thanks!" she calls, placing it in her mouth.

"No fair! That's mine!" Nepeta leaps at Roxy, pinning her to the floor, and she snatches the cookie away with her teeth, pulling it into her mouth in three quick bites.

Roxy laughs, leans up and kisses her. Shocked, Nepeta's mouth goes slack as Roxy's tongue pushes eagerly against hers.

Roxy pulls back, and Nepeta's mouth feels strangely empty. Roxy giggles, sticking out her tongue to reveal the cookie pieces, and finally begins to chew.

"I win!" Roxy tells her gleefully when she swallows the last bite.

Nepeta smiles. "I suppose you do. Cheater."

Then she pulls the last cookie from her pocket, and pops it into her mouth.


	22. Veritas TerezixFeferi

A girl sits on the edge of a rooftop, staring at the sky. It is early – still evening, the sun barely out of sight and the rose moon only half-risen from the horizon – yet deep fuchsia bruises beneath her eyes betray the girl's weariness. Crisis may strike at any time, but Feferi is still unused to working through the days.

Footsteps sound on the roof behind her, but she does not turn. She knows who approaches; only one person has ever sought her here. The girl walks to the edge and sits beside Feferi without a word.

So many questions race through Feferi's mind, a million hows. How are we meant to keep going after days like this? How are we ever meant to defeat her? If we do, how am I supposed to fix a mess like this? But she has asked each one before, and she knows that when the time comes, her friends will stand with her. She knows, only exhaustion fills her with doubt.

Together, they watch the moonrise for a while. As a sliver of emerald begins to emerge, Feferi thinks of Jade, and the game, and the second chance she never expected to receive.

She thinks of a question – not a how, this time, but a why.

"Why are you here?" she asks her companion. "Doesn't it bother you, breaking the law like this?"

Terezi looks at her. Feferi shivers under her unseeing gaze, feeling as if her every insecurity is inspected and analysed. After a moment, Terezi smiles, and turns her face back to the moons.

"Veritas vos liberabit," she replies. "It was an Earth saying, something Rose told me once. 'The truth shall set you free.'"

Terezi reaches out, and takes Feferi's hand.

"Justice and law aren't always the same thing. We have truth on our side. And that's why the Condesce will _never_ manage to defeat you."

Feferi scoots towards her. Beneath her feet is a long fall, fatality waiting an inch away – but she leans into Terezi's shoulder, and feels safe.

"I shore hope so," she says quietly, and Terezi chuckles, low and gentle.

The moons have risen now, and the sky is growing dark. Soon, trolls will be crawling out of their recuperacoons to greet the new night.

"Come inside," Terezi says – not a question or a command, but an acknowledgement of what has to happen eventually.

"Oh-_cray_," Feferi answers, kissing her on the cheek. "Let's go get some sleep."


	23. Will JadexAradia

When Jade finds herself in the Furthest Ring, she blinks only once before raising her hands out to the eerie blankness which surrounds the Green Sun.

"Right..." she mutters to herself, scanning her makeshift viewfinder around as though searching for something. Her expression slips gradually from enthusiasm to frustration, and eventually she curses and lowers her hands.

"You won't find them," Aradia tells her.

Jade spins around, shocked by her silent approach. She glares at Aradia, hands on hips.

"Why won't I?"

"I'm masking their trail," Aradia tells her. "But even if I wasn't, you aren't destined to meet with them again. Not yet."

"You're _masking_..." Jade growls. "I can't believe this! Why won't you just take me to them!"

"I told you –"

"Screw destiny!" Jade yells. "If you wanted to take me, you could! I'm sick of you using the future as an excuse. We're making the future right now! What we want to happen, will!"

"Will it?" Aradia asks in a neutral tone.

"You –!" Jade loses her temper, and whirls her hands towards Aradia, intending to shrink her down to size.

But Aradia disappears.

"Jade..." says a reproachful voice behind her.

"Will you just take me to them?" Jade repeats as she turns to face Aradia again.

"Will you just face facts and act like a grown up?" Aradia snaps back. "I won't lead you to the meteor."

"Why?" Jade shouts. "Do you want me stuck here with you? Because I'm sick of it! I'm sick of you thinking you know better than everyone and claiming destiny as a reason to never do anything! I hate you, Aradia! I wish you were dead!"

Aradia stiffens. "I am going to assume you do not understand –"

"Yeah," Jade spits at her sarcastically. "Because it's not like Karkat explained it all to me a thousand times." Hot tears of frustration and anger roll down her cheeks. "I _hate_ you, Aradia."

The two girls stare at each other for a second. Jade's cheeks are burning red, but Aradia is as pale as the grave.

"I..." Aradia shakes her head. "I still won't take you."

"For fuck's sake!" Jade pulls Aradia towards her roughly, nails scratching at her forearms.

Their kiss is like the end of two universes.


	24. Xenodochy JadexVriska

A wild-haired woman staggers out of the dust-bitten wind onto a rickety wooden porch. She hammers on the door, calling out above the gale.

"Hello?"

The door opens a crack, and a yellow eye greets her. It widens in shock, and the door is opened to reveal a troll – sharp-toothed and split-horned. She wears a leather eyepatch over her left eye, with a blood symbol picked out in sparkling cerulean gems – an arching m, ending in a sharp arrow point.

"You'd better come in," she says.

"Thank you!" Jade gasps, glad of the clear indoors air. "My truck broke down and I –"

"You need an ablution," the troll tells her. "Upstairs, second on the left. You can tell me _all_ about it when you're clean."

Half an hour later, Jade's hair is shaking out water droplets onto a silken azure gown as she recounts her travels. The troll's eye grows wide with interest over her coffee, and when she laughs, it rings out like a bell.

"So what about you?" Jade asks at the end of her story. "I thought this part of the world was too bright for trolls..."

"That's why I like it," the woman smiles, sharp and predatory. "There's too many trolls around I'd rather not see."

"Well..." Jade takes another sip of her drink to hide her widening smile. "I'm glad you were here. I'll have to think of some way to thank you for this..."

The troll leans forwards over the table, raising an eyebrow. "Is that a proposition?"

The kiss tastes like her coffee, black and bitter, but it is surprisingly sweet and Jade cannot help but sigh.

"Vriska..."

Vriska pulls away suddenly, scowling. "How do you know my name?"

"Like you didn't recognise me?" Jade asks. "Why do you think I'm here? I'm looking for you."

Vriska shakes her head, her eye glittering fiercely. "Leave be, Harley. I won't bother anyone again, just let me alone."

"No, Vriska," Jade says with a smile. "It's time for you to come home."


	25. Yesterday RosexJane

The house is dark and silent. Nobody speaks – they are in shock, or perhaps in mourning, but for whom Jane could not say. Against expectation, they are all still alive.

Jane finds herself drawn to the kitchen, as she always has in times of stress. She sits at the table, and watches the clock. As the hands draw together in the darkness, and a distant clock begins to chime, she releases a breath she did not know she was holding.

It is November 12th 2011, and Sburb has been won.

On the twelfth stroke, Rose walks into the kitchen. She fetches herself a glass of milk before sitting down.

"Can't sleep?" she asks.

Jane shakes her head, not quite trusting her voice. She is so used to the silence that talking aloud seems strange, almost blasphemous.

"I grant you, it isn't surprising." Rose looks out of the window. "I suppose in a few hours, other people will begin to wake."

Jane smiles. "Do you think they'll know?"

"I'm not certain." Rose seems to relish the words. "We shall have to wait and see."

Jane sighs, and finally speaks the question she has spent the past two hours asking herself.

"What do we do now?"

"Tonight?" Rose asks, with a smirk which tells Jane the misunderstanding is deliberate. "We rest. We recover. We mourn our dead."

Jane looks surprised for a second, and Rose knows what thought crosses her mind. "We are all dead, dear. Each of us has lost something."

"And afterwards?" Jane shakes her head. She knows the answer. "We rebuild. We take what we have gained, and we make something new from it."

This piques Rose's curiosity. "And what is it that we have gained?"

"Don't you know?" Jane laughs, and she realises she cannot remember the last time she did so.

Across the table, she takes the girl's hands. They are cool to the touch, and spidered with veins as lilac as her eyes.

"We have each other."

"Oh." A gentle blush touches Rose's cheeks, the barest hint of colour. "Yes. I believe that will be sufficient."


	26. Zoo JanexRoxy

"Come on!"

A blonde girl charges down the path at full speed, her long legs tearing a path through the visiting families. She drags a black-haired girl behind her by one wrist, who laughs and shouts apologies as she stumbles to keep up.

"Roxy!" the brunette complains.

"Come on come on you've gotta see 'em first!" Roxy shouts. "It's just round here –"

They come to a screeching halt outside the door of the desert house, and Roxy drops her voice as they step inside.

"Aren't they the cutest thing?" Roxy breathes. Wide-faced and long-tailed, a creature remarkably like an ordinary house cat scampers across a narrow expanse of sand. The sign beside the glass reads 'Felis margarita; Sand cat.'

"They're my favourite – oh."

Jade is growling slightly in the back of her throat. Nearby, a mother with a pushchair gives them a strange look. Jade glances at Roxy apologetically.

"Was that a bad idea?" Roxy asks, pulling Jade back out into the sunlight. "I thought you didn't..."

"Only mostly." Jade sighs. "Any other suggestions?"

Roxy pulls a face. "We could go look at the wolves..."

Suddenly, Jade's face lights up. "I have a better idea. We'll go with whatever's nearest... when you catch me!"

She hares off, and Roxy launches after her, both laughing their heads off under the bright July sun. They make it halfway across the park before Jade hesitates for a moment too long at a fork in the road. Roxy barrels into her, nearly sending them both crashing to the ground.

"That one!" Jade says through her giggles, pointing towards the large tree fenced off beside them. They walk over to it slowly, out of breath and arm in arm, peering against the sunlight to make out the inhabitants.

"There!" Jade gasps, pointing. Roxy follows her gaze and sees a flash of auburn disappearing between the branches.

"Ailurus fulgens, red panda," she reads. "Says they live in the Himalayas! Awesome!"

"You ready?" Jade asks her.

"Always." Roxy winks.

A nearby toddler, his mother distracted by a phone call, watches the two girls with widening eyes as they embrace tightly, hair shining blonde-black in the sunshine – and then disappear, leaving nothing behind but one last, laughter-filled cry.

"Himalayas, here we come!"

* * *

><p>I hope you enjoyed the challenge. Thank you, and goodnight.<p>

[For more of the same, please try Bubblebound, my epic-length shipping manifesto. Friendships will be broken, sloppy makeouts will occur in earnest, slash will be everywhere. Update coming soon(ish) to a website near you!]


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